Centene (NYSE:CNC) Given New $93.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CNC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $85.38.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC opened at $71.98 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $38.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.66 and its 200 day moving average is $74.53. Centene has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QV Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,655,000 after purchasing an additional 33,350 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,239,000 after purchasing an additional 231,931 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,941,000 after purchasing an additional 68,854 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 8.2% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 186,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,817,000 after purchasing an additional 14,070 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children's health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.